Basic Unix commands:

Command Example Description

1. ls ls Lists files in current directory

ls -alF List in long format

2. cd cd tempdir Change directory to tempdir

cd .. Move back one directory
cd ~dhyatt/web-docs Move into dhyatt's web-docs
directory

3. mkdir mkdir graphics Make a directory called graphics

4. rmdir rmdir emptydir Remove directory (must be empty)

5. cp cp file1 web-docs Copy file into directory

cp file1 file1.bak Make backup of file1

6. rm rm file1.bak Remove or delete file

rm *.tmp Remove all file

7. mv mv old.html new.html Move or rename files

8. more more index.html Look at file, one page at a time

9. lpr lpr index.html Send file to printer

10. man man ls Online manual (help) about

command

11. grep <str><files> grep "bad word" * Find which files contain a certain
word

12. chmod <opt> <file> chmod 644 *.html Change file permissions read only
chmod 755 file.exe Change file permissions to
executable
13. passwd passwd Change passwd

14. ps <opt> ps aux List all running processes by #ID

ps aux | grep dhyatt List process #ID's running by
dhyatt

15. kill <opt> <ID> kill -9 8453 Kill process with ID #8453

16. gcc (g++) <source> gcc file.c -o file Compile a program written in C
g++ fil2.cpp -o fil2 Compile a program written in C++

17. gzip <file> gzip bigfile Compress file

gunzip bigfile.gz Uncompress file

18. mail mail me@tjhsst.edu < file1 Send file1 by email to someone
(pine) pine Read mail using pine

19. telnet <host> telnet vortex.tjhsst.edu Open a connection to vortex

ssh <host> ssh -l dhyatt jazz.tjhsst.edu Open a secure connection to jazz as
user dhyatt

20. ftp <host> ftp station1.tjhsst.edu Upload or Download files to

ncftp <host/directory> ncftp metalab.unc.edu station1
Connect to archives at UNC

21. who who Lists who is logged on your

machine

22. finger finger Lists who is on computers in the lab

23. ytalk <user@place> ytalk dhyatt@threat Talk online with dhyatt who is on
threat

24. history history Lists commands you've done

recently

25. fortune fortune Print random humerous message

26. date date Print out current date

27. cal <mo> <yr> cal 9 2000 Print calendar for September 2000

28. xeyes xeyes & Keep track of cursor (in

"background")
29. xcalc xcalc & Calculator ("background" process)

30. mpage <opt> <file> mpage -8 file1 | lpr Print 8 pages on a single sheet and
send to printer (the font will be
small!)

31. netscape netscape & Run Netscape browser

32. xv xv & Run graphics file converter

33. xfig / xpaint xfig & (xpaint &) Run drawing program

34. gimp gimp & Run photoshop type program

35. ispell <fname> ispell file1 Spell check file1

36. latex <fname> latex file.tex Run LaTeX, a scientific document

tool

37. xemacs / pico xemacs (or pico) Different editors

38. soffice soffice & Run StarOffice, a full word

processor

39. m-tools (mdir, mcopy, mdir a: DOS commands from UNIX (dir
mdel, mformat, etc. ) mcopy file1 a: A:)
Copy file1 to A:

40. gnuplot gnuplot Plot data graphically

41. df df See how much free disk space

42. du du -b subdir Estimate disk usage of directory in

Bytes

43. alias alias lls="ls -alF" Create new command "lls" for long
format of ls

44. xhost xhost + threat.tjhsst.edu Permit window to display from x-

xhost - window program from threat
Allow no x-window access from
other systems
45. fold fold -s file1 | lpr Fold or break long lines at 60
characters and send to printer

46. tar tar -cf subdir.tar subdir Create an archive called subdir.tar
tar -xvf subdir.tar of a directory
Extract files from an archive file

47. ghostview (gv) gv filename.ps View a Postscript file

48. ping ping threat.tjhsst.edu See if machine is alive

(traceroute) traceroute www.yahoo.com Print data path to a machine

49. top top Print system usage and top resource

hogs

50. logout (exit) logout or exit How to quit a UNIX shell.